Unlawfully Billed? Threaten To Report Them For Mail Fraud

One reader says that after Cingular overcharged her, she sent them a letter informing them they were committing mail fraud.

In response, Cingular’s executive offices called her and offered to refund her the overage, in addition to all the money she had ever paid them. “We want you to go away,” they said.

Mail fraud is defined as any unlawful attempt to get money in which the US Postal system is used at any point in committing the crime.

This is the first we’ve heard of this tactic, but it sounds intriguing. Employing it effectively would seem to involve:

1) being right about the unlawful billing
2) letting the company know you’re going to report them
3) giving them a chance to respond favorably
4) filing complaints with the USPS and your local DA’s office